Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia
and the Ostrich in Ancient and
Modern Times
BY
BERTHOLD LAUFER
Curator ok Anthropology
9 Plates and 10 Text-figures
Anthropology
Leaflet 23
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO
1926
The Anthropological Leaflets of Field Museum are designed to
give brief, non-technical accounts of some of the more interesting
beliefs, habits and customs of the races whose life is illustrated
in the Museum's exhibits.
LIST OF ANTHROPOLOGY LEAFLETS ISSUED TO DATE
1. The Chinese Gateway $ .10
2. The Philippine Forge Group 10
3. The Japanese Collections 25
4. New Guinea Masks 25
5. The Thunder Ceremony of the Pawnee . . . . .25
6. The Sacrifice to the Morning Star by the
Skidi Pawnee 10
7. Purification of the Sacred Bundles, a Ceremony
of the Pawnee 10
8. Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men . .10
9. The Use of Sago in New Guinea 10
10. Use of Human Skulls and Bones in Tibet ... .10
11. The Japanese New Year's Festival, Games
and Pastimes 25
12. Japanese Costume 25
13. Gods and Heroes of Japan 25
14. Japanese Temples and Houses 25
15. Use of Tobacco among North American Indians . .25
16. Use of Tobacco in Mexico and South America . . .25
17. Use of Tobacco in New Guinea 10
18. Tobacco and Its Use in Asia . .25
19. Introduction of Tobacco into Europe 25
20. The Japanese Sword and Its Decoration 25
21. Ivory in China 75
22. Insect Musician and Cricket Champions of China (in press)
23. Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia and the
Ostrich in Ancient and Modern Times ... .50
D. C. DA VIES
DIRECTOR
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO, U. S. A.
LEAFLET 23.
OSTRICH EGG-SHELL CUP FROM GRAVE AT KISH, MESOPOTAMIA (p. 2).
ABOUT 3000 B.C. IN FIELD MUSEUM.
About one-third actual size.
Field Museum of Natural History
DEPARTMENT OP ANTHROPOLOGY
Chicago, 1926
LsArurr Nun be* 23
Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia
and the Ostrich in Ancient and
Modern Times
CONTENTS
P*»e
The Ostrich in Mesopotamia 2
The Ostrich in Palestine, Syria, and Arabia 9
The Ostrich in Ancient Egypt 16
The Ostrich in the Traditions of the Ancients. ... 21
The Ostrich in the Records and Monuments of the
Chinese 29
The Ostrich in Africa 34
The Domestication of the Ostrich 41
The Ostrich in America 47
Bibliographical References 51
THE OSTRICH IN MESOPOTAMIA
In his "Report on the Excavation of the 'A' Ceme-
tery at Kish, Mesopotamia" published by Field Museum
(Memoirs, Vol. I, No. 1), Ernest Mackay writes
as follows: "A rare object found in grave 2 was
a cup which had been made from an ostrich shell
by cutting about one-third of the top of the shell away
and roughly smoothing the edge. It was the only one
of its kind found in the cemetery, and it was in such a
very bad condition with so many pieces missing that
it could neither be restored nor drawn. The remains
of a similar cup were found in one of the chambers of
a large building of plano-convex bricks, about a mile
from the 'A' cemetery, which appears to be of the
same date. The ostrich is still found in the Arabian
desert, and was doubtless plentiful in early times. Its
feathers as well as its eggs were utilized by the
ancients."
In the course of further excavations on the ancient
sites of Kish great quantities of fragments of ostrich
egg-shell were brought to light and, together with
other collections, mainly pottery, stone, and metal,
were recently received in the Museum. Having read in
Chinese records of ostrich eggs anciently sent as gifts
from Persia to the emperors of China and being aware
of the importance of this subject in the history of
ancient trade, I took especial interest in these egg-
shell fragments and induced T. Ito, a Japanese expert
at treating and repairing antiquities, to restore three
of these cups completely. The result of his patient and
painstaking labor is shown in Plates I and II illus-
trating two of the cups. These restorations are true
and perfect ; that is, they consist of some eighty shards
each, accurately and perfectly joined, without the use
of other substances or recourse to filling-in. Thanks to
Ostrich Egg-shell Cups 3
the admirable skill of Mr. Ito we now have these beauti-
ful cups before us, exactly in the shape, as they were
anciently used by the Sumerians. These cups, almost
porcelain-like in appearance, have the distinction of
representing the oldest bird-eggs of historical times in
existence, and may claim an age of at least five thou-
sand years. Being the eggs of the majestic winged
camel of the desert, the largest living bird, the fleetest
and most graceful of all running animals that "scorn-
eth the horse and his rider," they are the only eggs of
archaeological and historical interest. But they are
more than mere eggs; they are ingeniously shaped
into water-vessels or drinking goblets by human hand,
a small portion at the top having been cut off and the
edge smoothed. They were closed by pottery lids over-
laid with bitumen, one of the oldest pigments used by
mankind. They are thus precious remains of the earli-
est civilization of which we have any knowledge. In
Plate III single fragments of egg-shell are shown, as
they came out of the graves, and some patched together
from several pieces. These are decorated with banded
zones of brown color brought out by means of bitumen.
The shell is extremely hard and on an average 2 mm
thick.
The trade in ostrich eggs was of considerable
extent and importance in the ancient world. They
have been discovered in prehistoric tombs of Greece
and Italy, in Mycenae (Fig. 3), Etruria (Fig. 9),
Latium, and even in Spain, in the Punic tombs of
Carthage as well as in prehistoric Egypt. We find
them in ancient Persia and from Persia sent as tribute
to the emperors of China. The Spartans showed the
actual egg of Leda from which the Dioscuri, Castor
and Pollux, were said to have issued; there is no
doubt that the egg of an ostrich rendered good ser-
vices for this pious fraud. In 1833, Peter Mundy, an
energetic English traveler, saw ostrich (or, as he
4 Field Museum of Natural History
spells, estridges) eggs hung in a mosque in India. In
1771, General Sir Eyre Coote found the cupola of a
Mohammedan tomb fifty miles north-east of Palmyra
adorned with ostrich eggs, and at present also, devout
Moslems of the Near East are fond of honoring the
sepulchre of a beloved dead with such an egg which is
suspended from a tree or shrub on the burial place.
Even in the Christian churches of the Copts they are
reserved for the decoration of the cords from which
the lamps are suspended.
Pliny writes that the eggs of the ostrich were
prized on account of their large size, and were em-
ployed as vessels for certain purposes. The eggs were
also eaten and found their way to the table of the
Pharaohs. The Garamantes, a group of Berber tribes
in the oases of the Sahara south of Tripolis, anciently
had a reputation for being fond of the eggs. Peter
Mundy (1634) found ostrich eggs, whose acquaintance
he made at the Cape of Good Hope, "a good meate."
The egg is still regarded as a rare delicacy in Africa.
The contents of one egg amounts to forty fluid ounces,
and in taste it does not differ from a hen's egg. An
omelet prepared from one egg is sufficient for eight
persons. Cuvier, the French naturalist, remarks that
an ostrich egg is equal to twenty-four to twenty-eight
fowl's eggs, and that he had frequently eaten of them
and found them very delicate.
Arabic poetry is full of praise for the beauty of
ostrich eggs, and the delicate complexion of a lovely
woman is compared with the smooth and brilliant sur-
face of an ostrich egg. The Koran, in extolling the bliss
and joys of Paradise, speaks of "virgins with chaste
glances and large, black eyes which resemble the hidden
eggs of the ostrich."
The thickness of the egg-shell in the African spe-
cies (Struthio camelus) varies from 1.91 to 1.98 mm;
the length of the eggs from 140.01 to 156.75 mm, the
Ostrich Eggs 5
width from 121.02 to 138 mm. In Struthio molybdo-
phanes (so called from the leaden color of its naked
parts) of the Somali country, the egg-shell is even
2.02 mm thick; the length varies from 145 to 159.95
mm, the width from 119.50 to 125.4 mm. The weight
of the full eggs is from one to two thousand grams,
that of the empty ones varies from 225 to 340 grams.
The eggs of birds living in captivity differ con-
siderably from those of wild birds, both in size, color-
ation, and structure. The former are frequently larger
and more oblong, and have a thin shell ; the colors are
more lively, and the enamel layer is flat, sometimes
entirely obliterated.
The egg of a domesticated ostrich from a Cali-
fornian farm, 163 mm in length, is shown for com-
parison in Plate IV. As the Californians are all
descendants of birds imported from South Africa, their
eggs exhibit to a marked degree the pitting which is
characteristic of the South African species and which
is associated with the respiratory pores of the shell. In
the egg-shell of the North African bird, according to
J. E. Duerden, the pores are so small and open so close
to the surface, as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye,
and are mostly scattered singly, with but little group-
ing, hence the surface appears almost uniformly
smooth. In the southern egg, the shell pores are larger,
sunken below the general surface, and mostly in small
groups, varying from about six to twelve in a group.
It is the close grouping of the sunken pores which give
rise to the pitted surface. In both types the outer
enamel layer shows differences in thickness, and with
it the polished character of the surface. All the eggs
are a cream or yellow color when freshly laid, but fade
considerably on exposure and harden in course of time.
The egg of the North African bird is larger than
that of the southern, the shell is almost free from pores
or pittings, and presents an ivory-like smooth surface.
6 Field Museum op Natural History
The northern egg is usually rounded in shape and less
oval. The egg of the southern bird is deeply pitted all
over the surface, the pits often larger and more plenti-
ful at the air-chamber end, hence the shell does not
present the ivory smoothness of the northern egg.
According to J. E. Duerden, who has devoted a special
investigation to the two varieties, no mistake is pos-
sible in discriminating the one type from the other in
a mixed lot of eggs from northern and southern birds.
In cases where the North African hen was mated
with the South African cock, a peculiar feature was
noted, namely, that the egg-shells of this cross-breed
were only pitted in certain patches, while other patches
were quite smooth.
In our Mesopotamian eggs the pores are exceed-
ingly fine, and for this reason it may be concluded that
the species represented by them is identical with, or
closely allied to the present Syrian and North African
ostriches. The latter extends right across the Sahara
from the Sudan and Nigeria to Tunis and Algeria and
from Senegal eastwards. The egg of the Syrian spe-
cies, if a distinct species it is, is said to be of smaller
size and higher polish than the North African one.
In ancient Elam rows of ostriches are found de-
picted on early pottery, closely resembling the
ostriches on the pre-dynastic pottery of ancient Egypt.
In 1849 Austen H. Layard (Nineveh and Its Re-
mains) wrote, "The only birds represented on the
Assyrian monuments hitherto discovered are the eagle
or vulture, the ostrich and the partridge, and a few
smaller birds at Khorsabad, whose forms are too con-
ventional to permit of any conjecture as to their spe-
cies. The ostrich was only found as an ornament on
the robes of figures in the most ancient edifice at Nim-
rud. As it is accompanied by the emblematical flower,
and is frequently introduced on Babylonian and As-
syrian cylinders, we may infer that it was a sacred
LEAFLET 23.
OSTRICH EGG-SHELL CUP FROM GRAVE AT KISH. MESOPOTAMIA (p. 2).
ABOUT 3000 B.C. IN FIELD MUSEUM.
About one-third actual size.
The Ostrich in Mesopotamia 7
bird." The statement that the ostrich is represented
on an Assyrian king's robe is repeated by Perrot and
Chipiez, Handcock, and Meissner; but this bird, in my
Fig. i.
Assur Strangling Two Ostriches. Engraved on an Assyrian Seal-cylinder.
After Dorow.
opinion, is not an ostrich ; it has a short neck, and its
head is entirely different from that of an ostrich. The
fact, however, remains that the latter is clearly repre-
sented on seals and cylinders.
Fig. a.
The God Marduk Executing an Ostrich. Engraved on an Assyrian Seal-cylinder.
After W. Houghton.
One of these seals is shown in Fig. 1. It was the
seal of Urzana, king of Musasir, a contemporary of
King Sargon (eighth century B.C.), and represents
8 Field Museum of Natural History
Assur, king of the great Assyrian gods, with four
wings, in the act of strangling two ostriches. On an-
other seal (Fig. 2) the god Marduk is shown in the
act of executing vengeance on an ostrich. With his left
hand he firmly grasps the bird's long neck, and in his
right he holds a scimitar which will apparently be used
to sever the bird's head. These illustrations appar-
ently hint at a ritual act and seem to indicate that the
ostrich was also a sacrificial bird and that its flesh was
solemnly offered to the gods. Perrot and Chipiez (His-
tory of Art in Chaldea and Assyria, II, p. 153) figure a
scene from a chalcedony cylinder in Paris, which rep-
resents an ostrich about to attack a man with outspread
wings and raised left foot; the man tries to lure the
bird with a fruit which he holds in his right hand,
while behind his back he hides a deadly scimitar in his
left.
In the language of the Sumerians the ostrich was
known under the names gir-gid-da, which is explained
as "the long-legged bird" and gam-gam, which means
as much as "benefactor" or "well disposed." The latter
name was borrowed by the Assyrians in the form gam-
gam-mu. Other Assyrian designations of the bird are
sha-ka-tuv and se-ip-a-rik, the latter also meaning
"long-legged."
THE OSTRICH IN PALESTINE, SYRIA,
AND ARABIA
The ostrich was well known to the Hebrews, and
as attested by several allusions to the bird in the Old
Testament, must in ancient times have been frequent
in Palestine. It is included among unclean birds in the
Mosaic code (Leviticus XI, 16; Deuteronomy xiv, 15),
and its flesh was prohibited. This may hint at the fact
that the ostrich had occasionally served as food to the
Hebrews, although we have no positive information
on this point. The reason for the interdiction is not
revealed. The ancient apostolic fathers explain that it
was forbidden, because the ostrich cannot rise from
the earth ; modern commentators, because it is a vora-
cious animal and hunting it is cruel. Those who assert
that it was abhorred as an exotic animal in Palestine
err in a point of zoogeography. The simplest interpre-
tation seems to be that, like other unclean animals of
the Mosaic legislation, it was tabooed by Moses, because
the surrounding pagan nations availed themselves of
its flesh both as a sacrifice to their gods (see above,
p. 8) and for their own use. The Arabs of ancient and
modern times feast on the bird, and as related by Leo
Africanus of the sixteenth century, its flesh was con-
sumed to a large extent in Numidia, where young birds
were captured and fattened for this purpose. There are
other tribes like the Shilluks of the Sudan who for
superstitious reasons abstain from ostrich flesh. Those
who have tasted it state unanimously that it is both
wholesome and palatable, although in the wild bird, as
might be expected, it is somewhat lean and tough. The
meat of domesticated birds, however, especially those
fed on alfalfa and grain, becomes juicy and tender.
Dr. Duncan of the Department of Agriculture recom-
mends it as a New Year or Easter bird.
10 Field Museum of Natural History
Job (xxx, 29) laments, "A brother I have become
to the jackals, and a companion to the young ostriches."
And the prophet Micah (I, 8) exclaims in a similar
vein, "Like jackals will I mourn, like ostriches make
lamentation." The comparison alludes to the plaintive
voices of these animals. The jackal and ostrich are
again combined in a passage of Isaiah (xxxiv, 13) :
"And it shall be an habitation of jackals, and a court
for ostriches." The cry of the ostrich has been de-
scribed variously by observers: some define it as a
loud, mournful kind of bellowing roar, very like that
of a lion ; others define the common sounds of the cock
as a dull lowing which consists of two shorter tones
followed by a longer note ; in a state of excitement he
will give a hissing sound, and his warning cry is an
abrupt, shrill note. The Hebrew word renanim used
for the female ostrich means literally "cries, calls,"
and refers to the twanging cry of the female. Another
designation of the ostrich, bath haya'anah, signifies lite-
rally "daughter of the desert" ; that is to say, a desert-
dweller, a very appropriate name for the bird. A paral-
lel term occurs in Arabic with the meaning "father of
the desert." Isaiah (xm, 21), in his prediction of the
fate of Babylon, says, "But wild beasts of the desert
shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs
shall dance there."
The famous passage in Job (xxxix, 13-18) is thus
rendered in the Revised Version: "The wing of the
ostrich rejoiceth; but are her pinions and feathers
kindly (or, as the stork's) ? which leaveth her eggs in
the earth, and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth
that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast
may break them. She is hardened against her young
ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in
vain without fear; because God hath deprived her of
wisdom, neither hath He imparted to her understand-
The Ostrich in Palestine 11
ing. What time she lifteth up herself on high, she
scorneth the horse and his rider."
The text is difficult, especially in the opening para-
graph, and various translations have been proposed,
thus, for instance : "The wing of the ostriches is raised
joyfully; but is it a pinion and feather as kindly as
that of the stork? No, the ostrich hen leaves her eggs
to the earth," etc.
Professor J. M. Powis Smith of the University of
Chicago has been good enough to communicate to me
his own translation prepared for his coming version
of the Old Testament. It runs thus :
Is the wing of the ostrich joyful,
Or has she a kindly pinion and feathers,
That she leaves her eggs on the ground,
And warms them on the dust,
And forgets that the foot may crush them,
Or the beast of the field trample them ?
She is hard to her young, as though not her own;
For nothing is her labour; she has no anxiety.
For God has made her oblivious of wisdom,
And has not given her a share in understanding.
When she flaps her wings aloft,
She laughs at the horse and his rider.
According to those scholars who translate the
word chasidah by "stork," the Hebrew poet contrasts
the ostrich with the stork. The stork, as indicated by
its name chasidah ("the pious one") , was the symbol of
kindness and piety, and was regarded as a model of
filial love ; for this reason it is venerated by all Oriental
peoples. The ostrich may resemble the stork in some
respects, but differs from it in the care for its young.
The description that follows is based on the widely
spread, but erroneous assumption that the ostrich is
in the habit of leaving its eggs in the sand to be hatched
by the sun. The Hebrew poet is intent on making the
point that in spite of the careless treatment of the eggs
the bird is propagated as a striking evidence of God's
constant solicitude for his creatures. To make amends
12 Field Museum op Natural History
for the lack of wisdom, fleetness of foot has been
granted the ostrich. In case its life is endangered, it
leashes the air with its wings which assist in running,
and derides horse and rider who are in pursuit of it, —
a sign that the ostrich, after all, is not so stupid.
The alleged cruelty of the ostrich to its young is
also referred to in the passage, "Even the sea monsters
draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones :
the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the
ostriches in the wilderness" (Lamentations rv, 3) .
The observation made in the book of Job that the
ostrich treats her offspring harshly does not conform
with the real facts. The birds, on the contrary, are
tender parents and feed and watch their young ones
very carefully. The eggs are laid in a shallow pit or
depression of the soil scraped out by the feet of the
old birds with the earth heaped around to form a wall
or rampart. The female incubates the eggs during the
day, while the male takes her place at night. As eggs
are sometimes dropped in the neighborhood of the nest
or scattered around, the popular belief in the careless-
ness of the birds and in the hatching of the eggs by
the heat of the sun may have arisen. Any eggs not
hatched are broken by the parents and fed to the young
for whom they display great solicitude, and whom they
defend in case of danger.
As to Palestine, the ostrich still occurs in the
farther parts of the Belka, the eastern plains of Moab,
and is still obtained near Damascus. It is no doubt
now but a straggler from central Arabia, though
formerly far more abundant (Tristram, Fauna and
Flora of Palestine) . The portion of the Syrian desert
lying east of Damascus denotes the northernmost limit
of the range of the ostrich. According to Burckhardt,
it inhabits the great Syrian Desert, some being found
in Hauran, and a few being taken almost every year,
even within two days' journey from Damascus.
The Ostrich in Palestine and Syria 18
As regards ancient Syria, the ostrich is attested
by relief -pictures in the theatre at Hierapolis of Roman
times, one of these depicting a lioness seizing an ostrich
by the neck, and by its introduction into the Syriac
version of the Physiologus.
In the Physiologus, a Greek allegorical natural
history, which originated at Alexandria in the second
century of our era, the following story is told: "The
ostrich looks up to heaven in order to see when her
time has come to lay her eggs. She does not lay before
the Pleiades rise, at the time of the greatest heat. She
lays her eggs in the sand and covers them with sand ;
thereupon she goes away and forgets them, and the
heat of the sun hatches them in the sand. Since the
ostrich knows her time, man ought to know his to a
still higher degree : we have to look up toward heaven,
forget worldly existence, and follow Christ."
This story has doubtless been formed by com-
bining Job xxxix, 14, with Jeremiah vm, 7 ("the stork
in the heaven knoweth her appointed time"). From
the Hebrew name of the stork, chasidah, the Greek
text of the Physiologus has derived the word asida in
the sense of ostrich. In mediaeval Europe the notion
still prevailed that the ostrich hatches her eggs merely
by glancing at them or by the steadfast gaze of mater-
nal affection. In consequence of this imaginary exploit
the bird was chosen as an emblem of faith.
The great outlets from Syria for the ostrich plumes
are Aleppo, Damascus, and Smyrna, where the bazars
always contain a good supply.
The Janizaries of Turkey who had excelled in
battle had the privilege of adorning their turbans with
an ostrich feather. At the time of the Ottoman empire
there was an imperial ostrich-park in Beylerbey Serai
on the Bosporus.
From times immemorial the ostrich has been an
inhabitant of Arabia. Heraclides and Xenophon, sub-
14 Field Museum op Natural History
sequently Agatharchides and Diodorus mention it as
a native of the peninsula. The valuable white plumes
of the wings and tail are in great demand among the
Arabs for their own wants in the decoration of tents
and spears of the sheikhs. Ostrich hunting is alluded
to in early Arabic poetry, and has always been a popu-
lar sport with the Arabs, who rely on the speed of their
horses and run the birds down. As these are in the
habit of circling their favorite haunts, the horsemen
hunt in relays, and are apt to overtake the birds by
pursuing in a straight line.
Kazwini (1203-83), the Arabic author of a Cos-
mography in which a section is devoted to animals, tells
this story : "When the ostrich has laid her eggs, twenty
in number or more, she buries them under the sand,
leaving one third in one place, exposing another third
to the sun, and hatching another third. When the
chicks have come out, she breaks the hidden eggs and
feeds her young with them. And when the chicks have
grown strong, she breaks the last third on which vermin
will collect, and this serves as food for the young until
they are able to graze." There is a germ of truth under-
lying this story, and this is that the old birds feed their
young on the contents of eggs which they trample down
for them. When the eggs are left during the heat of
the day, they are covered up with sand, and the occa-
sional finding of such eggs may have given rise to
Kazwini's story. He relates another anecdote to the
effect that the ostrich, when it has withdrawn from its
own eggs and spies other birds' eggs, will hatch the
latter and desert its own.
There is a Moslem legend in explanation of the
bird's inability to fly. "Once upon a time the ostrich
was winged, and like other birds, was capable of flight.
He once laid a wager with the bustard, but relying on
his strength he forgot before rising to invoke Allah's
assistance. He flew in the direction of the sun which
The Ostrich in Arabia
15
scorched his pinions, so that he pitifully plunged down
to earth. His progeny has since suffered from the
curse which befell its ancestor, and restlessly roves
about in the desert."
The Arabs have many names for the ostrich like
camel-bird, father of the desert, the magician, the
strong one, the fugitive one, the stupid one, and the
gray one (for a young bird). Ostrich fat is regarded
as a powerful remedy for both external and internal
use.
Fie. 3.
Engraving on an Ostrich Egg from Mycenae, Greece.
After Perrot and Chipie*.
THE OSTRICH IN ANCIENT EGYPT
The ancient Eygptians received the ostrich and its
products from Nubia, Ethiopia, and the country Punt
on the east coast of Africa. An expedition to Punt,
probably of a peaceful nature, is recorded on the wall
connecting the two Karnak pylons of King Harmhab
of the nineteenth dynasty. A relief shows the king at
the right, holding audience, receiving the chiefs of
Punt approaching from the left, bearing sacks of gold
dust, ostrich feathers, etc. (Breasted, Ancient Records
of Egypt, III, 37).
In the rock temple of Abu Simbel are represented
scenes depicting a war of Ramses II against the Li-
byans and the Nubian war. In one of these scenes
Ramses sits enthroned on the right side; approaching
from the left are two long lines of Negroes, bringing
furniture of ebony and ivory, panther hides, gold in
large rings, bows, myrrh, shields, elephants' tusks, bil-
lets of ebony, ostrich feathers, ostrich eggs, live ani-
mals, including monkeys, panthers, a giraffe, ibexes, a
dog, oxen with carved horns, and an ostrich (Breasted,
op. cit., Ill, 475).
Fig. 4 illustrates a very instructive Egyptian
scene. The man on the left leads a captured ostrich,
grasping its neck with his right hand, while his left
holds a rope slung around the bird's neck ; this double
precaution hints well at the strength of the powerful
avian giant. The man on the right carries three ostrich
feathers and a basket filled with three ostrich eggs.
The ostrich was sometimes used as a riding-beast, as
may be seen from the scene in Fig. 5. Oppianus re-
marks that it can easily carry a boy on its back.
Heuglin says that the possibility of riding the ostrich
has often been doubted, but he assures us that the ani-
mal is able to carry a heavy man, but not for a long
16
The Ostrich in Ancient Egypt
17
time, and after a brief run will throw itself on the
ground. A prehistoric serpentine figure of a seated
ostrich is illustrated by Flinders Petrie (Amulets,
No. 246).
Ostrich eggs showing traces of painting and en-
graving have been found in prehistoric tombs of Egypt,
and are figured by Jean Capart (Primitive Art in
Egypt, p. 40). They were also imitated in clay and
decorated with black zigzag lines in imitation of cords
or simply painted with white spots. In the Egyptian
department of the British Museum is shown an enor-
Fig. 4.
Egyptian Scene Showing a Captured Ostrich and Man with Ostrich Feathers and Eggs.
After O. Keller.
mous marble egg which is apparently intended for an
enlarged ostrich egg, and which was once deposited in
a sacred place. During the historic period, ostrich eggs
and feathers were imported from the land of Punt and
probably also from Asia.
Imitations of ostrich eggs in terracotta have been
found in the tombs of Vulci in Italy, which, according
to G. Dennis (Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria) , seems
to indicate that the demand was greater than the
supply.
18
Field Museum op Natural History
EGG OF DOMESTICATED OSTRICH FROM OSTRICH FARM IN CALIFORNIA (p. 5).
IN FIELD MUSEUM.
About two-thirds actual size.
The Ostrich in Ancient Egypt 19
Flinders Petrie (Naukratis, part 1, p. 14) recov-
ered from the temple of Apollo at Naukratis a piece of
an ostrich egg-shell with a pattern of wreath etched
out of the inside, and the upper part stained red ; the
etching was probably done by drawing the wreath with
wax on the shell and then eating out the background
with vinegar; and the higher surface of the wreath
was polished, like the rest of the inside, before etching.
Ostrich feathers were worn by men in ancient
Egypt, being stuck in their hair, and a religious sig-
nificance was possibly connected with this custom.
Such feathers are invariably found in the hair of
lightly-equipped soldiers of ancient times, and there is
a hieroglyph showing a warrior thus adorned. An os-
trich plume symbolized truth and justice, and was the
emblem of the goddess Ma'at who personified these vir-
tues, and who was the patron-saint of the judges. Her
head is adorned with an ostrich feather, her eyes are
closed, similarly as Justice is blindfolded. The image
of this goddess was the most precious offering for the
gods, and was attached to the necklace of the chief
judge as a badge of office.
Subsequently when the insignia of the various
ranks in the court ceremonial were regulated, the os-
trich feather became the exclusive prerogative of the
kings, and these and the princes of royal blood exclu-
sively were permitted to wear it. Those decorated with
the ostrich feather are designated as "fan-carriers on
the left of the king" in the inscriptions of the monu-
ments.
The princesses had fans made from ostrich
feathers. In the tomb of the queen Aa Hotep, mother
of Amasis I (about 1703 B.C.) was discovered a semi-
circular fan decorated all over with gold plates and
provided along its edge with perforations for receiv-
ing the feathers. When the Pharaoh showed himself to
the people, high dignitaries carried ostrich-feather fans
20 Field Museum of Natural History
attached to long poles alongside the royal palanquin.
Among the amulets of power conferred upon the
dead were two ostrich plumes supposed to fly away in
the wind, bearing the king's soul, and the pair of plumes
therefore were provided as a vehicle for the soul of the
deceased (Flinders Petrie, Amulets).
The British Museum has a terracotta from Nau-
cratis representing a goddess on horseback with a lyre,
wearing a head-dress surmounted by the solar disk,
horns, and ostrich feathers (Walters, Cat. of the Terra-
cottas in the British Museum, p. 256, with illustration) .
In the eighteenth and first part of the nineteenth
century the ostrich still lived in the plains of northern
Egypt and along the Arabic coast of the Red Sea
(Heuglin). Near the oases of middle Egypt it still
occurs at present, likewise along the south-eastern
frontier of the country.
THE OSTRICH IN THE TRADITIONS OF
THE ANCIENTS
The ancients knew the bird as an inhabitant of
northern Africa, upper Egypt, and Arabia.
The first Greek author who mentions the ostrich is
Herodotus (iv, 175, 192). With reference to the Macse
who inhabited the coast of Libya, he states that they
wore the skins of ostriches as a protection in war. He
terms the ostrich "the bird remaining on the ground."
The skin of the ostrich is very thick, and still
serves as a cuirass to Arabic tribes. Pierre Belon, a
famous French naturalist of the sixteenth century,
saw large numbers of ostrich skins with the feathers
on in the shops of Alexandria, where they had arrived
from Ethiopia. In northern Africa an ostrich skin is
valued at about $75.
Xenophon (Anabasis I, 5), when he accompanied
the army of Cyrus through the desert along the Eu-
phrates, in northern Arabia, noticed numerous wild
asses and many ostriches which he calls "large spar-
rows," as well as bustards and antelopes; and these
animals were sometimes hunted by the horsemen of the
army. While they succeeded in catching some asses,
no one succeeded in capturing an ostrich. The horse-
men who hunted that bird soon desisted from the pur-
suit ; for it far outstripped them in its flight, using its
feet for running and raising its wings like a sail. This
description is quite to the point. Macaulay said of John
Dryden, "His imagination resembled the wings of an
ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar."
The wings serve the ostrich, while running, as poy and
rudder, and it has been observed that with favorable
wind they are even used as sails. Xenophon confirms
the fact that in ancient times the ostrich ranged right
up to the Euphrates. The last record of ostriches in
21
22 Field Museum op Natural History
the region of this river was in 1797 when Oliver men-
tioned them in the desert west of Rehaba, about twenty-
three miles due south of Deir-ez-Zor.
Strabo (xvi, 4, 11) , the Greek geographer (63 B.C.-
A.D. 19) , speaks of a tribe of Elephant-eaters near the
city Darada in Ethiopia. Above this nation, he con-
tinues, is a small tribe, the Struthophagi ("Bird-
eaters"), in whose territory there are birds of the size
of a deer, which are unable to fly, but run with the
swiftness of an ostrich. Some of the people hunt these
birds with bows and arrows, others by putting on the
skins of the birds. They hide their right arm in the
neck of the skin and move the neck as the birds use
to do. With their left hand they scatter grain from a
bag suspended to the side. They thus lure the birds,
driving them into ravines where they are slain with
cudgels. Their skins are used both as clothes and as
coverings for beds.
This method of hunting by means of a decoy-bird
is perfectly credible and universally employed. In
South Africa the native hunters hide in a hole which
they dig close to the nest of the birds. Having accounted
for one bird, they stick up its skin on a pole near the
nest, and in this way decoy another ostrich. Other
tribesmen who keep tame ostriches avail themselves of
the latter to approach wild ones and shoot them with
poisoned arrows.
George W. Stow (Native Races of South Africa)
gives the following graphic account of the Bushmen's
method of hunting (compare Plate V) : "In stalking
the quagga (Equus quagga), the Bushmen generally
disguised themselves in skins of the ostrich, with a
long pliant stick run through the neck to keep the head
erect, and which also enabled them to give it its natural
movement as they walked along. Most of them were
very expert in imitating the actions of the living bird.
When they sighted a herd of quaggas which they
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Greek Writers on the Ostrich 23
wished to attack, they did not move directly toward
them, but leisurely made a circuit about them, gradu-
ally approaching nearer and nearer. While doing so,
the mock-bird would appear to feed and pick at the
various bushes as it went along, or rub its head ever
and anon upon its feathers, now standing to gaze, now
moving stealthily toward the game, until at length the
apparently friendly ostrich appeared, as was its wont
in its natural state, to be feeding among them. Singling
out his victim, the hunter let fly his fatal shaft, and
immediately continued feeding; the wounded animal
sprang forward for a short distance, the others made
a few startled paces, but seeing nothing to alarm them,
and only the apparently friendly ostrich quietly feed-
ing, they also resumed their tranquillity, thus enabling
the dexterous huntsman to mark a second head, if he
felt so inclined. But as these primitive hunters never
wantonly slaughtered for the mere sake of killing the
game, like those who boast a higher degree of civiliza-
tion, they generally rested satisfied with securing such
a sufficiency as would afford a grand feast for them-
selves and their families, quite content with knowing
that as long as the supply lasted, their feasting, danc-
ing, and rejoicing would continue also."
According to Pliny, the feathers of the wings and
tail were used as ornaments for the crests and helmets
of warriors. The Athenian general Lamarchus wore
two fine, white ostrich feathers on his helmet. The
British Museum has a bronze statuette of Harpocrates
wearing the Egyptian head-dress known as atef, rest-
ing on goat's horns; it is composed of three ostrich
feathers, flanked by two uraei and surmounted by disks.
Likewise a bronze statuette of Fortune has on her head
a stephane surmounted by a disk, on each side of which
is an ostrich plume, resting between a pair of wings
(Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes in the British
Museum, Nos. 1494, 1540) .
24 Field Museum op Natural History
The ostrich was known to Aristotle as the bird
who lays the largest number of eggs. He describes it
as an animal which has the feathers in common with
birds, but shares with the quadrupeds hairs, eyelashes,
and the inability to fly ; like the birds, it has two feet,
but like many quadrupeds, cloven feet, and also re-
sembles them in size; for this reason it has no toes,
but claws, for a bird must be small in size, as it is not
easy that a large bodily mass moves soaring in the air.
Aristotle, accordingly, conceives the ostrich as a con-
necting link between birds and mammals.
In a similar manner Pliny opens his book on birds
with a tolerably exact description of the ostrich which
he terms struthiocamelus ("sparrow camel"), and
which he calls the largest of birds almost approaching
the nature of quadrupeds. He assigns it to Africa or
Ethiopia and writes, "It exceeds in height a man sitting
on horseback, and can surpass him in swiftness, as it
is provided with wings to aid it in running. In other
respects ostriches cannot be considered as birds, and
do not rise from the ground. They have cloven talons,
very similar to the hoof of a stag; with these they
fight and also use them in seizing stones for the pur-
pose of throwing them at their pursuers. They have
the marvellous property of being able to digest every
substance without distinction."
The ostrich stands about seven or eight feet high
when full-grown, weighs upward of two hundred
pounds, and in the wild state defies the horse and rider.
At full speed it is said to make about twenty-six miles
an hour. The family to which the ostrich proper, the
rhea of South America, the emu of Australia, and the
cassowary of the Malay Archipelago, South Pacific, and
northern Australia belong, differs from other birds in
having only small and rudimentary wings unadapted to
flight, though they assist greatly in running ; the barbs
of the feathers are of equal length on each side of the
Pliny on the Ostrich 25
quill and of such a nature as to deprive the animal of
the power of flight. The breast is rounded instead of
being like a keel as in birds of flight. Aristotle and
Pliny are right in attributing to it cloven feet; indeed,
it has only two toes, the third and fourth in the
pentadactyl system, but unequal in size and not covered
with hoofs; the outer toe is much smaller and has no
claw. The other members of the family have three toes.
The ostrich, as Pliny points out, is a good fighter.
When wounded and hard pressed, it will attack a man,
raise its leg to the height of his head, and kick him with
its feet, which are hard like steel and yet elastic. A
blow from this foot may rip open any animal on which
it may fall. The notion that the bird hurls stones at
its pursuers (according to Burton, prevailing through-
out Arabia) may have been prompted by the observa-
tion that when it runs at great speed, it kicks up the
stones behind with such violence that they would almost
seem to be flung at the hunters in pursuit.
Although the ostrich will swallow almost anything,
it is by no means able to digest everything, as Pliny
thought. It demands stones instead of bread and swal-
lows them in the same manner as other birds do gravel.
They act as mill-stones and assist the gizzard in its
function. In the South- African ostrich farms a certain
amount of bone and grit is supplied to the birds. White
quartz has been found to give excellent results. Grit
is so essential that in some parts of the country it is
carted by wagon or by rail for many miles, as it was
found that without it the birds could not thrive — in
fact, could not exist (Thornton).
The fondness for metals has obtained for the bird
the name of the "iron-eating ostrich." In 1579 Lyly
wrote in his Euphues that "the ostrich disgesteth harde
yron to preserve his health." In Shakespeare's Henry
VI Jack Cade thus threatens Iden : "I'll make thee eat
26 Field Museum op Natural History
iron like an ostrich, and swallow my sword like a great
pin, ere thou and I part."
The ancients entertained no high idea of the intel-
ligence of ostriches. Pliny comments that their stupidi-
ty is remarkable ; for, although their body is so large,
they imagine that when they have thrust their heads
into a bush, the whole of their body is concealed. Diodo-
rus from Sicily, a Greek historian of the first century
B.C., was much wiser in remarking that so far from
displaying stupidity in thus acting, it adopts a prudent
precaution, its head being its weakest part. The same
author regarded the ostrich as a missing link between
a bird and a camel. The ancient legend is still reflected
in our phrases "ostrich policy" and "ostrichism."
In The Birds of Aristophanes (415 B.C.) , the great
Greek writer of comedy, the chorus sings thus :
To the bird of awful stature,
Mother of gods, mother of man;
Great Cybele! Nurse of nature!
Glorious ostrich, hear our cry!
Fearful and enormous creature,
Hugest of all things that fly,
Oh preserve and prosper us,
Thou mother of Cleocritus!
Nothing is known about Cleocritus, except that he
was unfortunate in his figure, which was supposed to
resemble that of an ostrich, while his mother had feet
as large as those of an ostrich.
Cornelius Fido, a son-in-law of the poet Naso, is
said to have burst into tears when Corbulo called him
a bare-skinned or plucked ostrich (struthocamelum
depilatum). Seneca who relates this anecdote thinks
it funny that a man should lose his temper over so
absurd a phrase.
The Arabs have a saying "more stupid than an
ostrich," and the French use their autruche in the
sense of a tall, idiotic fellow. The sweeping judgment
of the ancients, however, is based on crude and limited
The Ostrich Among the Romans 27
observation of the animal, and on erroneous interpre-
tation of what they did not understand.
In his Report on Ostrich Farming in America Dr.
T. C. Duncan (1888) writes that despite its propor-
tionately small brain the bird is anything but stupid,
as every one must own who has seen it breaking open
the shell to let out a chick that is fast inside, or has
seen it managing its chicks.
The Romans indulged in roast-ostrich, and es-
pecially enjoyed the wings as a delicacy. Paulus of
Aegina, a celebrated physician of the seventh century
A.D., writes that they are as juicy and savory as those
of other birds. Caelius Apicius, a renowned gor-
mandizer at the time of Augustus and Tiberius, who
committed suicide when he saw his fortune shrunk to
two million and a half sestertii, has handed down sev-
eral culinary recipes as to how to prepare good ostrich
meat. The emperor Heliogabalus (a.d. 218-222) once
served at a banquet six hundred ostrich heads, the
brains of which were to be eaten, and was extremely
fond of roast-ostrich. The usurper Firmus, who re-
belled in Egypt against Aurelianus, performed the tour
de force to do away with an entire ostrich in the course
of a day. Ostrich fat was recommended by physicians
as a remedy for all sorts of pain, and the stones found
in its gizzard were believed to be a powerful medicine
in eye diseases.
Toward the end of the Roman empire ostriches
were sometimes shown in the arena of the circus.
Three hundred birds are mentioned on one occasion,
and a thousand on another as participants in a circus
game. A Roman mosaic shows an ostrich acting in the
amphitheatre. Eight ostrich teams figured in the tri-
umphal procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus at Al-
exandria. The Roman emperor Firmus rode with an
ostrich team and conveyed the impression as if he were
flying. Amor is represented on an engraved gem as
28
Field Museum of Natural History
being drawn by two ostriches (Fig. 6). A picture on a
Greek vase illustrates a comical chorus of spearmen
astride on ostriches (Fig. 5). A cut gem of Oriental,
perhaps Gnostic origin, shows a running ostrich sur-
rounded by symbolic designs, among these a star with
apples (Fig. 7).
Fig. 6.
Amor with a Team of Two Ostriches. Cut Gem of Green Jasper.
After Imhoof-Blumer.
Fig. 7-
Cut Gem of Serpentine Representing a Running Ostrich, Surrounded by SymDOlic
Designs, among these Star with Apples Oriental, perhaps Gnostic.
After Imhoof-Blumer.
THE OSTRICH IN THE RECORDS AND
MONUMENTS OF THE CHINESE
The ostrich was first discovered for the Chinese
by the renowned general Chang K'ien during his memo-
rable mission to the nations of the west (138-126 B.C.) .
He returned to China with the report that in the coun-
tries west of Parthia there were "great birds with eggs
of the size of a pottery jar." The "great bird" is the
common name of the ostrich among all early Greek
writers, while the name "camel-sparrow" or "camel-
bird" is found at a later time in Diodorus and Strabo.
When Chang K'ien had negotiated his treaties with the
Iranian countries in the west, the king of Parthia
(called Arsak by the Chinese after the ruling dynasty,
the Arsacides) sent an embassy to the Chinese court,
and offered as tribute eggs of the Great Bird. In
a.d. 101 live specimens of ostriches, together with lions,
were despatched from Parthia to China, and at that
time were styled "Arsak (that is, Parthian) birds,"
also "great horse birds." On becoming acquainted with
the Persia of the Sasanian dynasty, the Chinese Annals
mention ostrich eggs as products of Persia, and de-
scribe the bird as being shaped like a camel, equipped
with two wings, able to fly, but incapable of rising
high, subsisting on grass and flesh, also able to swallow
fire. Another account says quite correctly that the
birds eat barley. When an attempt was made in Algeria
to domesticate them, it was found that they thrive
well on barley, fresh grass, cabbage, leaves of the cac-
tus or Barbary leaves chopped fine ; and three pounds
of barley a day was recommended for each bird, green
food according to circumstances.
To the north of Persia, the Annals of the Wei dy-
nasty mention a country Fu-lu-ni, where there is a
great river flowing southward ; this territory harbors
29
30 Field Museum op Natural History
a bird resembling a man, but also like a camel. Again,
under the T'ang dynasty, in a.d. 650, the country To-
khara offered to China "large birds seven feet in height,
black in color, with feet resembling those of a camel,
marching with outstretched wings and able to run three
hundred (Chinese) miles a day and to swallow iron."
They were then called "camel birds," in accordance
with the Greek, Arabic, and Persian designations.
Again, in the first part of the eighth century, ostrich
eggs were sent to China from Sogdiana. We have to
assume that the live birds transported from Persia to
the capital of China over a route of several thousand
miles must have been extraordinarily tame, and it was
a remarkable feat at that. These birds must have been
kept in the parks of the Chinese emperors who were
always fond of strange animals and plants. What is
still more astounding is the fact that in the mausolea
of the T'ang emperors near Li-t'suan in Shen-si Prov-
ince there are beautiful, naturalistic representations of
ostriches carved in high relief in stone (Plates VI-VII
and Fig. 8). The two sculptured slabs shown in the
Plates were erected on the tomb of the emperor Kao
Tsung, who died in A.D. 683; the one in Fig. 8 was
placed on the tomb of the emperor Jui Tsung, who died
in a.d. 712. The artists of the period doubtless received
an imperial command to portray the ostriches of the
imperial park in commemoration of the vast expansion
of the empire over Central Asia during that epoch.
As shown by their results, they did not copy any foreign
artistic models, but they witnessed and carefully ob-
served and studied live specimens. Their ostriches, in
fact, belong to the best ever executed and known in
the history of art, and are far superior to any repre-
sentations of the bird in Assyria, Egypt, and Greece,
which are conventional and stiff. The Chinese ostriches
are correct in their accentuation of motion and action.
The formation and length of the neck allow the bird
LEAFLET 23.
PLATE VI.
CHINESE STONE SCULPTURE OF OSTRICH ON THE TOMB OF THE EMPEROR KAO
TSUNQ (?. 30). T'ANQ PERIOD. SEVENTH CENTURY A.D.
After E. C'havannes.
The Ostrich Among the Chinese 81
to turn its head completely around, a characteristic
skilfully brought to life in stone by the unknown Chi-
nese sculptor (Fig. 8).
For comparison the sketch of an ostrich by Al-
brecht Dtirer is reproduced in Plate VIII. It is dated
1508 with the addition of the monogram A. D. It is
supposed that during his stay in Venice the artist may
Fig. 8.
Chinese Stone Sculpture of Ostrich from the Tomb of the Emperor Jui Tsung.
Tang Period, Eighth Century.
After E. Chavannes.
have had occasion to view a live ostrich. His sketch is
better than that of his contemporary, the naturalist
C. Gesner, who had evidently never seen the bird. In
the museum of Nuremberg there is a painting of Wohl-
gemut representing the adoration of the Three Magi ;
the Moor offers an ostrich egg filled with spices and
bordered with gold or silver. The initials A.D. on the
32 Field Museum of Natural History
egg possibly refer to Diirer, and may hint at his col-
laboration.
Under the Tang, the Chinese were also informed
of the fact that the ostrich was a native of Arabia. It
is on record that "the camel-bird who inhabits Arabia
is four feet and more in height, its feet resembling those
of a camel ; its neck is very strong, and men are able
to ride on its back (compare p. 16) ; the birds thus
walk for five or six miles. Its eggs have the capacity
of two pints."
When, during the middle ages, the Chinese became
slightly acquainted with the east coast of Africa, they
learned also that the ostrich was at home in the Somali
country. Then they styled it "camel crane," and com-
pared its eggs not unfittingly with a coconut. They
even report that the natives of Africa heat copper or
iron red and give it to the birds to eat ; if the eggs are
broken, they give a ring like pottery vessels. In the
fifteenth century, under the Ming, ostriches are re-
ported also from Aden and Hormuz.
While in general the Chinese accounts are sensible
and make an interesting contribution to the geographi-
cal distribution of the species in ancient times, it is
noteworthy that they never allude to the bird's plu-
mage ; and it seems that its feathers were never utilized
in China. We are well acquainted with all articles of
trade imported into China by the enterprising Arabs
from the early middle ages down to more recent times,
but ostrich plumes are never mentioned. Feathers of
pheasants were used by the Chinese for the decoration
of head-dresses, peacock and eagle feathers for fans,
the blue feather of the kingfisher for inlaying in orna-
ments and screens.
The area of the habitat of the ostrich was formerly
much more extended than at present; continued per-
secution of the bird for the sake of its precious plumage
has exterminated it in certain districts or decreased its
The Ostrich Among the Chinese 88
numbers. It may still occur in some parts of southern
Persia, and still lingers in the wastes of Kirwan in east-
ern Persia, whence individuals may occasionally stray
northward to those of Turkestan, even as far as the
lower course of the Oxus. No representation of the
bird has as yet been found in Persian art.
THE OSTRICH IN AFRICA
The ostrich has reached its greatest extension in
the vast grass steppes of Africa, especially those cov-
ered with brushwood, where it finds the best conditions
for living and satisfying its nomadic habits. There it
migrates from pasture to pasture, and may appear and
disappear in a certain locality, particularly when forced
by lack of food or droughts to move. A gregarious ani-
mal, it wanders about in flocks of twenty and thirty
and keeps strictly to the steppe, but avoids altogether
forests, high tablelands, and damp and swampy tracts.
It associates also with other species, like giraffes,
zebras, and antelopes (Plate IX), who look upon the
ostrich as their guardian. On account of its tallness
and far-sightedness the bird is the first to give them a
danger signal. The ostrich is extraordinarily keen-
sighted, and on its native plains is extremely wary.
The whole tribe is characterized by excessive shyness
and timidity without which in the struggle for self-
preservation it would ere this have ceased to exist.
The ostrich lives on cereals, seeds of grasses, vege-
tables, leaves, buds, berries, dates, fruits of the tama-
rind and palms, young birds, lizards, beetles, grass-
hoppers, etc. In general frugal and capable of with-
standing hunger and thirst for days, it becomes greedy
and indiscriminately voracious at times. The birds per-
form strange dances in the sunshine, run around in a
circle, flap their wings, and endeavor to rise into the
air. During the mating season the male always wooes
the female with wild and eccentric dances. He is the
original inventor of the Charleston. Ostriches are fond
of bathing and swimming, and have been observed to
take to the brine. In more than one respect they are al-
most human, and in their mobility and peregrinations
34
LEAFLET 23.
PLATE VII.
CHINESE STONE SCULPTURE OF OSTRICH ON THE TOMB OF THE EMPEROR KAO
TSUNQ (p. 30). TANG PERIOD. SEVENTH CENTURY A.O.
After E. Chavannes.
The Ostrich in Africa 35
over vast stretches of land they are typical, restless no-
mads given to a life of hustle and bustle.
The natives of Africa have at all times appreciated
both its feathers and flesh. The former are used as fly-
whisks and as ornaments on lances, in the kingdom of
Congo as war standards, by the Somali as head-orna-
ments. The empty egg-shells serve as water-vessels,
and are suspended in tents and mosques. The roofs of
straw huts in the Sudan are adorned with the eggs.
Many Negro tribes cut the shell into small button-like
Fig. 9.
Painted Ostrich Egg from Etruscan Tomb of Isis.
After G. Dennis.
pieces which they perforate and string, wearing such
strands as necklaces. Perforated and decorated ostrich
egg-shells, together with implements of the stone age,
were unearthed by Foureau in the Sahara.
Painted ostrich eggs were discovered in the Punic
tombs of Carthage and even in the tomb of the valley of
Betis in Spain. In the tomb of Isis opened at Vulci,
Italy, in 1839, and so called on account of the Egyptian
articles found in it, but in fact the sepulchre of two
Etruscan ladies of rank, were found six ostrich eggs,
one of these being painted with a winged camel or, more
36 Field Museum op Natural History
probably, a fabulous creature (Fig. 9). G. Dennis
(Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria) is inclined to think
that these eggs were imported from Egypt, but others
assume that they testify to the ancient commercial
relations between Etruria and Carthage. There is a
fragmentary cup of plated silver, presumably im-
ported from Carthage into Etruria, which is adorned
with rows of fantastic and real animals, among these
unmistakable ostriches.
The trans-Saharan trade in ostrich eggs has per-
sisted to the present day. The eggs are sent along with
the consignment of feathers and emerge at the towns
of the Mediterranean coasts of Tunis and Tripolis,
where they are in request as pendant ornaments in the
mosques.
Richard F. Burton (Lake Regions of Central Afri-
ca) wrote in 1860, "The ostrich extends through
Unyamwezi and Usukuma to Ujiji. The eggs are sold,
sometimes fresh, but more generally stale. Emptied
and dried, they form the principal circulating-medium
between the Arab merchants and the coffee-growing
races near the Nyanza Lake, who cut them up and
grind them into ornamental disks and crescents. The
young birds are caught, but are rarely tamed. In Usu-
kuma the bright and glossy feathers of the old male
are much esteemed for adorning the hair ; yet, curious
to say, the bird is seldom hunted. Moreover, these East
Africans have never attempted to export the feathers,
which, when white and uninjured, are sold, even by the
Somal, for eight dollars a pound. The birds are at once
wild and stupid, timid, and headstrong; their length-
ened strides and backward glances announce terror at
the sight of man, and it is impossible to stalk them in
the open grounds, which they prefer."
The Nandi in eastern equatorial Africa wear a
cockade of ostrich feather in times of war. It is with
them also an emblem of peace ; when after war peace is
The Ostrich in Africa 87
desired, an ostrich feather is placed in a high-road in a
prominent position. The Nandi have the following
riddle : "What is the thing which, though so weak that
it is blown about by the wind, is able to herd oxen?"
Answer : "The ostrich-feather head-dress." The grass
in the Nandi country is so high that only a warrior's
head-dress can be seen above it, and at first sight it of-
ten appears as if a herd of oxen were being guarded
by the ostrich feathers, which are the plaything of
every gust of wind (A. C. Hollis).
Among the Somalis the ostrich feather is univer-
sally used as a sign and symbol of victory. Every man
hangs to his saddle-bow an ostrich feather, and gener-
ally the white feather only is stuck in the hair. All the
clans wear it in the back hair, but each has its own
rules. Some make it a standard decoration, others dis-
card it after the first few days. The learned have an
aversion to the custom, stigmatizing it as pagan and
idolatrous ; the vulgar look upon it as the highest mark
of honor (R. F. Burton).
In the Lango country the white ostrich feathers
are dyed red with iron ochre and worn as head-orna-
ments. The greater part of the feathers now exported
from the Sudan are furnished by ostriches taken young
and reared by the Shilluks and Bagaras. These birds
become as tame as chickens ; in the morning they go to
the fields with the cattle, and return home in the eve-
ning.
The ostrich-hunters par excellence were the Bush-
men of South Africa, now extinct. Their legends prove
that they had an intimate knowledge of the life of the
ostrich. Two of these are recorded in the "Specimens
of Bushman Folklore" by Bleek and Lloyd ( 1911) . One
of these, entitled the Resurrection of the Ostrich, gives
a good picture of the bird's mating habits and winds up
thus : "He will drive away the jackal, when he thinks
that the jackal is coming to the eggs, the jackal will
38 Field Museum op Natural History
push the eggs. Therefore he takes care of the eggs, be-
cause they are indeed his children. Therefore, he also
takes care of them, that he may drive away the jackal,
that the jackal may not kill his children, that he may
kick the jackal with his feet."
Fig. 10 represents two sketches of ostriches made
by the Bushmen living in the west corner of the Orange
Fig. io.
Bushmen Rock Carvings of Ostriches.
After M. Helen Tongue.
River Colony. They are reproduced from the work of
M. Helen Tongue, "Bushman Paintings" (Oxford,
1909) . These pictures are carved in rocks by means of
a stone. The markings indicating feathers in the sketch
on the right are chipped in the scraped-out surface of
the flat stone. The curved neck and the outline of the
body testify to good observation. The other sketch is
more primitive and not so good. A fine example of
The Ostrich Among the Bushmen 89
Bushman paintings of ostriches is reproduced in
Plate V.
In excavating the diamond-bearing deposits at Du
Toit's Pan, in Griqualand West, numerous Bushman
beads made of ostrich egg-shell were found at various
depths ranging from six to eight feet, and in several
spots resting on the bed of calcareous tufa. These local
accumulations had evidently been very gradual in their
formation. Multitudes of minute land-shells were
interspersed throughout them, the animals which in-
habited them having evidently perished and been en-
tombed while traversing the arid sand. This place had
obviously been a great station for the Bushmen, in the
midst of the ostrich country, and had in all probability
been a locality, where the manufacture of ostrich egg-
shell beads had been carried on for generations. Some
were found in various stages of manufacture. Some of
those dug out from the lowest depths had become per-
fectly fossilized, and adhered to the tongue.
A belt from three to six or seven inches in width,
formerly worn by young Bushman women, consisted of
small circular pieces of ostrich egg-shell bored in the
centre and strung like buttons with their flat sides to-
gether. Necklaces were made in a similar manner. Af-
ter the stronger peoples came in contact with the Bush-
men bead-makers, they used to purchase these pierced
disks of egg-shell from the latter for small bits of iron.
Ostrich egg-shells also furnished the Bushmen with
water-bottles in which to carry water to the place of
their haunt. The openings were closed with a bunch
of grass. The women carried twenty or thirty of such
egg-shells in a bag or net on their backs.
Spears and poles dressed with black ostrich feath-
ers were stuck in the ground around places, where
the Bushmen halted during their hunting expeditions,
in order to frighten away lions, which, from their ex-
perience, it was discovered were not fond of their ap-
40 Field Museum op Natural History
pearance (G. W. Stow, Native Races of South Africa) .
The Bushmen, further, used the breastbone of the
ostrich as a dish, made threads of its sinews and
wrought these into nets and bags.
From the remains of ostrich egg-shells is prepared
a powder which is also regarded by the Boers as an ex-
cellent remedy for man and cattle ; it is even said to pro-
tect one from blindness.
In South Africa the ostrich exists now only in the
domesticated state. In the Kalahari desert, however,
in the tablelands of South-west Africa, Matabele and
northern Rhodesia it still occurs wild.
THE DOMESTICATION OF THE OSTRICH
The ostrich is the most recent of all domesticated
animals, and its complete domestication was accomp-
lished by the white farmers of South Africa as late as
the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is the only
domestication that occured in modern times, and the
only one to which, with certain reservations, our own
civilization may lay claim ; all other domestications of
large mammals and birds were brought about ages ago,
either in Asia or Africa, and were simply adopted by
the nations of Europe. The first step toward domesti-
cation is taming and training, but a tamed animal is not
necessarily domesticated. In India, for instance, the
elephant has been tamed and schooled as a laborer to a
high degree of perfection, but does not propagate in
captivity ; for this reason it is not classed among domes-
ticated animals. In the stage of domestication the ani-
mal propagates its species, and in its breeding is to a
great extent influenced by human interference ; it will
gradually lose many of its savage instincts and acquire
new useful qualities. In this manner are formed nu-
merous new varieties which exhibit many differences
from the original type and greatly vary in size, color,
habits, even in anatomical and mental traits.
Long before the advent of the white man, the na-
tives of Africa had kept ostriches in captivity and
tamed them to a certain extent, but they did not succeed
in domesticating them. A few examples may suffice to
illustrate this point.
In the Uganda Protectorate, where the ostrich is a
native of the northern and eastern districts, its eggs and
recently hatched young are constantly brought in by the
natives for sale. Boyd Alexander (From the Niger to
the Nile) writes that in Bornu the ostrich is not much
41
42 Field Museum op Natural History
hunted, because it is very difficult to get near, but that
the natives catch the young which become domes-
ticated, most of the big men in Bornu owning three or
four. The word "domesticated" is here used in a loose
fashion, not in the strictly scientific sense.
For generations the Arabs and Berbers of North
Africa have kept the ostrich in small kraals and ruth-
lessly plucked its feathers. These are birds captured as
chicks from the nest of the wild bird, but chicks were
never bred in captivity.
In Kordof an in the Egyptian Sudan young ostrich-
es are frequently reared, fattened, and slaughtered ; the
flesh is eaten either fresh or dried. In the Arabic
villages of Central Africa ostriches are kept for their
feathers ; they are hatched from eggs accidentally dis-
covered. In the Sudan chicks are caught, raised by
hand and kept until the birds become too old to produce
feathers of paying quality, when they are killed and
eaten. The system of farming these birds is to enclose
each in a small circular mud wall or enclosure, about
eight feet in diameter. The birds are never given an op-
portunity to breed ; and this practice, being continued
for centuries, has led to the belief that the ostrich will
not breed in captivity. The method of removing the
feathers from these captive birds was atrocious and the
crudest possible ; whenever the native farmer required
money, he pulled as many feathers from the bird as he
could remove in order to turn them into cash. The
stage of the growth of the feathers was not considered,
the feather sockets were damaged, and in the course of
two or three years the birds produced only worthless
feathers. It was a system of spoliation inspired by the
most sordid greed of profit.
In the eighteenth century ostriches were still plen-
tiful in southern Africa. Peter Kolbe, who spent ten
years there on scientific research, wrote in 1742, "These
birds occur in the Cape Territory in so large a number
LEAFLET 23.
PLATE VIII.
SKETCH OF OSTRICH BY ALBRECHT DORER, DATED 1508 <|>. ji>.
After S. Killermann.
The Domestication of the Ostrich 43
that you cannot travel for a quarter of a mile without
seeing some of them. They can easily be tamed, and
many are kept in the Citadel of the Cape."
As early as 1662, Jan van Riebeek, Dutch com-
mander of the Cape Colony (1652-62) , directed his suc-
cessor's attention to the taming of young ostriches. On
several occasions tame ostriches had been sent to the
Indies, where they had proved acceptable presents to
native potentates. Their feathers were saleable, but it
does not seem to have occured to any one in those days
that it would pay to tame the bird for the sake of its
plumage (G. M. Theal, History of Africa South of the
Zambesi).
When in 1865 the domestication was first attempt-
ed in South Africa, natives who had some experience
in managing the birds were employed as trainers ; but
when it has been recognized that the domestication is
historically connected with the crude efforts of the
natives, it must be frankly admitted, on the other hand,
that the success of the actual domestication is solely to
the merit of the Africanders. They certainly availed
themselves, as it could not be expected otherwise, of
some of the experiences previously accumulated for
many centuries, not as mere imitators, however, but as
novel investigators who grasped the situation with
open eyes and energetically applied themselves to a
minute study of the bird's life-habits. By creating for
their favorite its natural surroundings, by reserving to
it vast spaces for movement and exercise, and by
proper feeding and care-taking, above all, by sympathy
and understanding, their success was permanently in-
sured. Just because these simple farmers were simply
human and humane, they achieved what was denied to
the Egyptians, Romans, or Arabs with their vain con-
ceit. The barbarous treatment which the poor bird had
hitherto received from the hands of African savages
44 Field Museum of Natural History
gave way to a charitable attitude and an enlightened
method prompted by truly scientific research.
The domesticated stocks of South Africa were pro-
duced from captured wild chicks who, on reaching the
age of maturity, were allowed to breed. Due to careful
handling and selected breeding, the quality of the
feathers has vastly improved.
The following figures may illustrate the rapid
progress made by the industry in South Africa since
ostriches were first domesticated. In 1865 there were
in South Africa 80 domesticated ostriches ; the weight
of feathers exported in that year was 17,000 lbs., most
of which were feathers of wild birds, valued at £65,000.
Ten years later, in 1875, there were 32,000 domesticated
birds, and the export of feathers amounted to 100,000
lbs., to the value of £300,000. In 1891 the number of
domesticated birds had increased to 154,000 ; weight of
feathers exported was 212,000 lbs., probably including
a small amount of wild birds' feathers, to the value of
£563,000. In 1904 there were 307,000 domesticated
ostriches ; the export of feathers was 470,000 lbs., val-
ued at £1,058,000. In 1908 a maximum of 700,000
domesticated ostriches was reached; the weight in
feathers exported came to 800,000 lbs., valued at
£2,098,000. In 1913 a million pounds of feathers were
exported, valued at £2,750,000. There is, accordingly,
the remarkable result that during a period of forty-
eight years the industry has risen from an export value
of £65,000 to £2,750,000 ; that is, an increase of 4130
per cent.
In mediaeval Europe ostrich plumes decked the
helmets of knights, later the hats of cavaliers, and the
fashion came in again for a time at the Restoration.
The fashion of the seventeenth century was dominated
by a large felt hat decorated with ostrich plumes laid
around the brim. Their natural beauty, particularly
The Domestication of the Ostrich 46
the graceful curve taken toward the tip, has always had
a strange fascination for the human heart.
The feathers are now utilized for the decoration of
ladies' hats, as well as for the making of fans and boas.
For the latter the flue or soft portion of the feathers
only, also damaged and inferior feathers, are used. The
flue of inferior feathers serves also for padding clothes
and quilts. The market, of course, is subject to fluctua-
tions due to changes of fashion, but it is very unlikely
that the demand for ostrich feathers will ever complete-
ly die out.
Each bird has twenty-five white plumes in each
wing with a row of protectors, floss feathers under-
neath. Above these are a row of black feathers and still
another row of shorter ones which are black in the adult
male and drab in the hen. The feathers are removed
by clipping ; at the age of six months the birds receive
their first clipping, and thereafter are clipped at inter-
vals of nine months. The bird will continue to produce
good feathers for practically an indefinite period. This
method is perfectly humane, the bird does not receive
any injury whatever. Feeding was found to have a
very marked effect on the feather growth. This led to
the pampering of the bird to such an extent that it is
now fed on everything it desires. This method of hu-
morizing its appetite has produced the best results. The
fact that the highly-fed ostrich gave the greatest finan-
cial return was the cause of erecting the majority of
the largest irrigation-works undertaken in South Afri-
ca. The return was so enormous that many irrigation-
works which could not have been undertaken otherwise
were carried out as paying propositions, and are at
present a source of immense wealth to the country.
The farmer of South Africa, as R. W. Thornton
justly says, is under an inestimable debt of gratitude to
the ostrich as being the means by which the best areas
of arid land have been converted under irrigation into
46 Field Museum of Natural History
highly productive fodder-producing areas, which, even
if the industry were to fail, would be of incalculable
value as fodder-producing areas for any class of
farming.
Experiments to introduce ostrich domestication
into Algeria in 1881 were unsuccessful. Egypt has an
ostrich farm near Matarieh north of Cairo.
In view of the similar climatic and soil conditions
of South Africa and Australia and considering the fact
that the camel introduced in 1846 was rapidly accli-
matized in Australia, it was suggested to naturalize
there also the South African ostrich. Its breeding was
started in 1880 in the southern part of the continent,
but has thus far not been very successful. The statis-
tics of the Australian Government for the year 1922
give the number of ostriches in the Commonwealth as
780, which is a small figure as compared, for instance,
with 11,738 camels. Good results were attained on an
ostrich farm near Christchurch in New Zealand. Near
Buenos Ayres, in Montevideo, Argentina, and Patago-
nia ostrich farms were also founded.
I <
THE OSTRICH IN AMERICA
In 1882 Dr. Charles J. Sketchly, one of the greatest
ostrich-farmers in South Africa, transported a troop of
two hundred picked ostriches from Cape Town via
Buenos Ayres to New York. From there the birds
were forwarded by railroad via Chicago and Omaha to
the Pacific coast, having covered a distance of 23,000
miles. Twenty-two arrived in California in fair condi-
tion, and were at once taken to Anaheim. The Cali-
fornia Ostrich Company was soon formed with a capital
of $30,000, and Dr. Sketchly was made superintendent.
The first year these birds resided in America they pre-
sented the company from April to October with 270
eggs.
At the same time the American Ostrich Company
was organized in Maine with E. J. Johnson as manager.
He went to Africa and spent there a year, studying the
habits and management of the birds. He started with
twenty-three of them and landed at New Orleans in
December, 1884, after a voyage of fifty-three days, with
all the birds alive, — a remarkable result, as the usual
loss at sea is about 25 per cent. He settled in the valley
of the San Luis Rey, about seven miles from the town of
Fallbrook, north of San Diego, in southern California.
The clear, dry air, the excellent water, and the shelter
afforded by the Santa Rosa hills furnished suitable con-
ditions for the establishment of an ostrich farm. The
birds took kindly to their adopted home, and have
thriven well, the old ones maintaining their natural
vigor, and the American-born being at two years un-
usually fine, both in size and quality of feathers. The
breeding birds are kept paired in corrals of an acre in
extent. Those one and two years old are left a range of
some thirty acres on the mesa, while the young chicks
are allowed to run with the other barnyard fowls. The
47
48 Field Museum op Natural History
ostrich is now perfectly acclimatized in this country,
and it is even asserted that the American birds are finer
and larger than their African progenitors.
Other farms soon followed, and are now estab-
lished near Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, Cali-
fornia; Hot Springs, Arkansas; Jacksonville, Florida;
Phoenix, Arizona, also in Oklahoma and Texas. Os-
trich farming has developed into an industry of great
importance.
The scientist is gratified at the domestication of the
ostrich, because it supplies the demands of the feather
trade and will therefore lessen or ultimately stop the
reckless slaughter of wild ostriches and, let us hope,
also the killing of song-birds formerly sought for their
feathers. It will enable us, further, to obtain an ac-
curate account of the bird's life history and habits and
to render it justice and correct the numerous errors to
which the ill-founded fables of past centuries have sub-
jected it. Until recent times it was believed, for in-
stance, that the ostrich is polygamous and mates with
from two to five or more females. A. Reichenow
(1900) is the first who observed that the wild cock pairs
only with a single hen, and I am inclined to assume that
he is right ; for it has been found that the birds reared
in captivity are monogamous, and it can hardly be sup-
posed that the ostrich, perhaps under the influence of
American environment, should have suddenly repented
and changed from harem habits to a state of mono-
gamy. Some years ago F. J. Haskin, after studying an
ostrich farm near Los Angeles, reported, "The ostrich
is abnormally finicky about mating. Some birds re-
main determined bachelors all their lives, and every
one chooses his mate only with great delay and caution.
Usually it takes two or three years of earnest and pa-
tient courtship on the part of the hen before she en-
snares her prey. But once captured, the male ostrich
is her devoted slave for life. He flutters anxiously
The Domestication of the Ostrich 49
about her while she sits on the family eggs and takes
up an unnecessarily combatant attitude, one deadly
toe-nail raised for fight, whenever another bird or the
keeper ventures within ten feet of her. If she dies,
moreover, he remains a melancholy widower to the end
of his days. When one of the males was widowed as a
result of his wife getting her head caught in the fence,
the keeper picked out the finest female in the flock and
offered her as a substitute. She was in the pen just
three seconds when the keeper had to risk his life to
get her out. As it was, she received such a hard kick
that she nearly died and had to be removed to the hos-
pital pen. The hen has no such scruples when it comes
to remarrying, and is polite, if not enthusiastic, to
every suitor introduced to her. Once in a long while,
also, a male bird is found who is not so sternly mono-
gamous. There is one of this type at the farm who has
condescended to espouse two wives. They call him
'Brigham Young'."
Captivity has brought about a remarkable change
in the attitude of the old birds toward their young.
Whereas in the wild state they are good and tender
parents, they apparently do not recognize the young
bred at the farms under the incubator system. They
cherish no affection for their offspring which has thus
not been hatched or raised by them, and their impulse
usually is to kill the young on sight. What is said in the
book of Job about the ostrich's want of regard for its
young now sounds like a true prophecy. Pliny, how-
ever, if he could come back to life and would visit one
of our ostrich farms, would doubtless offer an apology
for his somewhat hasty verdict. Civilization, after
all, advances: from a mercilessly persecuted and tor-
mented creature we have transformed the ostrich into
a happy and contented bird and an eminently useful
denizen of our soil. The domestication of the ostrich is
a positive contribution to the progress of humanity and
50 Field Museum op Natural History
humaneness, and may be designated one of the great
achievements of modern civilization of which the Afri-
cander may justly be proud and for which we have
every reason to be grateful to him.
B. Laufer.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Only articles which might prove of interest to the general reader
are listed here.
Caruthers, D. — The Arabian Ostrich. Ibis, 1922, pp. 471-474.
Douglas, A. — Ostrich-farming in South Africa. Ibis, 1906,
pp. 46-52.
Dueroen, J. E. — The Domesticated Ostrich in South Africa. Re-
port of the South African Association for the Advancement
of Science, Vol. vi, 1909, pp. 155-161.
The Plumages of the Ostrich. Smithsonian Annual
Report for 1910, pp. 561-571. 8 plates.
Some Results of Ostrich Investigations. Report of the
Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the South African Association
for the Advancement of Science, 1918, pp. 247-284.
Duncan, T. C. — Ostrich Farming in America. Report of the
Commissioner of Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture, 1888, pp. 685-702.
Pearson, T. G. — The Ostrich as a Protector of Wild Birds. The
Craftsman, Vol. xxv, 1913-14, pp. 470-476.
Prater, S. H. — The Arabian Ostrich. In: A Survey of the
Fauna of Iraq. Made by Members of the Mesopotamia Ex-
peditionary Force "D" 1915-19. Bombay, 1923, pp. 43-46.
Schalow, H. — Beitrage zur Oologie der recenten Ratiten. Jour-
nal fur Ornithologie, 1894, pp. 1-28.
Thornton, R. W. — The Ostrich Feather Industry in South Afri-
ca. The South African Journal of Science, Pretoria,
Vol. XII, 1916, pp. 272-279.
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